About three years ago to the day I bought a Samsung S20, which had just come out on the market. I had recently switched to Android after most of my life as an Iphone user. Before the S20 I spent the summer using the google phones that were a few years old, and therefore very inexpensive! They were kind of crappy so I went all in and got the Samsung flagship S20 new, on sale for $800 vs. $1000 retail (not the plus or the ultra, not a fan of huge phones ).

It has been awesome! My first trip with it was an almost week long backpacking trip. On the first night I was scared of all the coyotes killing stuff around me (it was a pretty remote area) and so I watched a movie on it. Then the next day I realized I didn’t have the right cable to use it with my backup battery, DOH! So I found battery saver mode, and something that doesn’t appear to be available anymore that was a super DUPER battery saving mode. This one only allowed you to run like six basic apps. No location services, no anything interesting.

TL;DR It worked! It lasted the entire week, with the various modes and then turning it off at night. Also it was totally waterproof, fast, took amazing pictures, I could turn on and off wifi, bluetooth and gps really quickly and so it became a trusted companion. To compare with iPhones though, it still seemed to drain the battery during airplane mode. IPhones definitely have better battery life, especially when using airplane mode.

Fast forward to the other day. I have been getting more into paddleboarding in the last few years. Given how waterproof the phone is I just attach a line of paracord to it that attaches to the key loop on my Patagucci swim trunks. Never had any issues until I paddled over and camped on….THE ISLAND!! Right now there is water IN the phone. All of the camera lenses have visible water in them. The phone part didn’t work until I pulled out the SIM and memory card and put a napkin in there and poured out some water. Now the phone works although it’s glitchy.

I bought a new battery for it on eBay for $20 bucks a month ago. I tried to replace it the other day and learned that you basically make the phone not waterproof when you do that, so I didn’t do it. The reason you void the waterproofing is because the phone is glued, GLUED shut! WTF! That’s lame. I could take any phone and just glue the fucker! (Hmmmm, maybe that’s a business idea. No charging anymore or speaker use but TOTALLY WATERPROOF YOUR PHONE!)

So on the way back to land from THE ISLAND I learned that essentially the phone has become delaminated and therefore totally open to the elements!

Time for a new phone I guess but the S20 is still like $250 USED! That’s too much considering I know that the waterproofing is shit after 3 years.

The S21 has no memory card slot, which is total bullshit iPhone type crap and one of the reasons I switched.

So we’re down to S22 which is still $400 or more but has a memory card slot at least. Problem is it seems only the S22+ is available…uggghhh. Probably won’t fit in my pocket very well.

My conclusion is that this is a fantastic phone as are most flagship phones in terms of construction. They either lack in the forced obsolescence due to software or no memory card slot, or crappy ways that they make them “waterproof.” Now people will say “this is only IP68 which is not really waterproof, it’s only for a quick dunking!” Sure, I won’t go in the ocean or a hot tub or pool with it. However, its not waterproof IF ITS NOT WATERPROOF VIA THE BASIC DESIGN/ENGINEERING OF THE PHONE!!!!!! Glue dies, fades and fails. Also, phones flex which is problematic. So please for the love of whatever invisible fantasy in the sky that doesn’t exist do NOT say waterproof! Say “Dunk-able” or Toilet Proof. Your phones are NOT waterproof. Also, they’re wayyyyyy too expensive. But nonetheless, good effort at beating the iPhone.